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O.J. Simpson wants new trial in ’07 robbery

NEW TRIAL?:O.J. Simpson watches his former defense attorney Yale Galanter testify during an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada May 17, 2013. Simpson's lawyers are trying to get him a new trial in an effort to overturn his 2008 robbery conviction. Photo: Reuters/Ethan Miller

(Reuters) – Lawyers for O.J. Simpson submitted a bulky document requesting a new trial for the former NFL star in an attempt to have his 2008 armed-robbery conviction overturned, court officials said on Thursday.

The attorneys for Simpson, who is not eligible for parole until 2017, filed the opening brief in his December 2013 appeal before a midnight-Wednesday deadline, said Nevada Supreme Court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer.

The document came in at 19,993 words, well over the 14,000 word limit, along with a request to exceed the word count because of the complexity of the case.

Before the brief can be made public, the court will have to accept Simpson’s request to go over the limit, Sommermeyer said.

In 2008, Simpson, 66, was convicted on charges of burglary, robbery, kidnapping and assault while in possession of a deadly weapon related to a 2007 robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel.

Simpson testified at the time that he was trying to retrieve items that he believed had been stolen from him.

He was sentenced to up to 33 years by the district court and has been incarcerated at Lovelock Correctional Center since.

He asked for a new trial in May 2013, arguing that he was inadequately represented, but district court judge Linda Bell denied his request. Simpson appealed that ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court in December.

Simpson’s attorney Patricia Palm argued in a motion filed with the brief that his extremely complicated case required more than the 14,000 words allowed by the court. Palm said the court record in his case exceeded 7,000 pages of material, including the 100-page decision Simpson is appealing.

A pro Football Hall of Fame running back for the Buffalo Bills, Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of two counts of murder in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles. He later lost a wrongful death case that was brought by the victims’ families.